Drink Me, So it Says
by Vonpohl
Summary: Alice was being groomed for a life of civil obedience when her fiance suddenly dissappears down a rabbit hole. In search of him, Alice finds a life she never expected and meets a certain young man who is more then happy to help her find her way.
1. The Wedding and the Rabbit

Recently I found my copy of Alice in wonderland which caught my attention. Then, Syfy premiered its version of Alice and I got inspiration to work on a version of the story that I had started some time ago. So, here is my version of Alice as if the original tale of her as a child going to wonderland had never existed.

The Wedding and the Rabbit

Alice quietly stood upon the pedestal as the dress maker proceeded to bury her alive in fabric. The whole situation was going rather… _well._ She was about to get married and all things considering she should have been very happy.

"Blue is the color of choice for this seasons bride," said the joyful seamstress with the measuring tape.

"Blue is the new white," her assistant piped in.

Considering that she was being forced into a marriage that is.

"Just make sure that there won't be anything to puff the dress up," her sister Lorina ordered. "Smooth form fitting dresses are all the rage in Paris this year. And where can a place the order for the men's suits? They have to be blue and white to match the dresses, and Warrick's suit has to have the family crest, the rabbit you know."

Well, forced was a rather harsh way to describe it. She really hadn't argued against it, she just wasn't for it per say. Warrick Rilton was a decent enough fellow; his father owned a local livestock farm. They bred a few of every typical farm animal but for the most part they bred rabbits. The best rabbits in the country. Decent was the best way to describe Warrick and his family.

After all, there wasn't particularly anything interesting about him.

Warrick was the kind of boy who blended in _very_ well. In school he had not been the one who was never chosen first, nor was he chosen last. He wasn't wickedly handsome, but he wasn't hideous either. His father wasn't the richest farmer in town but he was pretty well off. Warrick was an average size for a seventeen year old boy. He wasn't particularly tall and he wasn't thick either.

The only thing that made Warrick Rilton stand out was his hair. It was a usual cut and consistency but it was the color that made a person do a double take. When he was fifteen, Warrick's hair stopped growing brown and started turning grey. About a year after that, it lost its grey color and turned white. No one thought much about it since all of the men in his family had gone through the same thing.

When Alice's father informed her that Marius Rilton was interested in forming a business deal, Alice hadn't given it a second thought. When she learned that it was to be disguised as a marriage she began to think about it a bit more.

At first, she questioned the true love aspect; she didn't love him. Most of her friends had already gone off and gotten married. None of them seemed particularly happy in their new married lives. Alice herself had never experienced what being in love was like so she didn't have any idea what all the fuss was about. Being married to a decent fellow like Warrick seemed as respectable enough to her as marrying Christopher from her economics class.

Then again, it would be a decent life. She wouldn't be expected to work unless she wanted to. The business part of the marriage would combine her father's fur trading with the Rilton family business just seemed to make perfect sense. There was much money to be made with a deal like that and it wasn't about to go through unless there was a bloodline in the deal. Warrick would most likely have as much interest in her as she did in him so he would most likely leave her alone.

But Alice was not without her doubts about the union. Warrick was not good at standing up for himself. When they were in school Warrick was always the first one to go down in competitions. He was not a strong willed person and he would easily be crushed by Alice's controlling personality.

She would still be allowed to finish high school of course. However, she would be switched to an all girl's school. It was customary for all the girls to switch schools once they were married. The idea was to keep them virtuous and pure in their married lives.

What was comical to Alice was the fact that the boys were still allowed to go to their old high school. Were they just expected to always be lusty high school boys? Alice didn't particularly like her school, so the idea of switching didn't bother her to much but it was the principle of the matter. Why should she have to go out and buy new uniforms while Warrick would continue to go on the way he always had.

Alice sighed before being pricked in the back by a sewing needle for the second time that afternoon. No, it would be a fine union for all sides. She just wished she could manage to feel a little happier about it. After all, it was_ her_ wedding.

-----

Warrick was standing in the doorway staring at her.

"Alice, I don't know that I should be here." He nervously looked around the room and held onto his pockets.

Alice had been insistent that he meet her privately before they were married. Alice wanted to try and make some sort of chemistry before they were wed. Her mother's explanation of sexual acts seemed awkward enough with out doing them with a boy like James. She just wanted to test the water so to say. She wasn't about to do anything drastic, she more overly just wanted a little kiss.

Warrick had absolutely no desire to do anything where he might be punished. Everyone knew this about him; he was never one to take risks. The only reason he had agreed was because Alice had assured him that it didn't matter. According to her, their parents wouldn't care since they were to be married that week anyway.

"Warrick, you're being ridiculous." She arose from her desk chair and walked up to him. James tensed and stopped breathing. Alice smiled and looked down and he feet. "We are to be married and so far you have been too afraid to even talk to me." Looking back up, she tried to smile as charmingly possible as she could.

Warrick blushed and finally managed to breathe in. He was obviously uncomfortable but she seemed to finally tap into his inner man. She reached up and grabbed his color. Pulling him towards her she whispered softly into his ear, "How do you plan on touching me if you can't even talk to me?"

Warrick gasped and sank into her small frame for just a moment. After some time he finally managed to speak.

"Alice, I really like the idea of marrying you." He pulled back enough that he could look her in the eye. "Alice… I just... I can't..." His voice trailed off as he gently kissed her cheek.

"Just what? Warrick?" Alice instantly grew alarmed. Was he suggesting that the marriage wasn't going to go through? If that was the case, she wished that his father would go ahead and end it.

"I have to go." And with that he simply pushed her back and walked out the door.

-----

The wedding went as planned, people smiled, vows were said, and dinner was eaten. Not to long after she had arrived to the reception her sister rushed her upstairs to wait for Warrick. Alice didn't like the idea of missing her own party to wait for a boy who didn't seem to want to be with her.

"It will be fine. He'll be up soon. Might want to make yourself ready, if you know what I mean." Lorina winked before closing the door behind her.

Alice plopped on the bed and yawned. Looking around the room she noticed that the wedding gifts had been piled up beneath the window. It was a large assortment of gifts that would undoubtedly be all the things she would own for the next two decades of her life.

Bored, she strolled over and examined the different boxes. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided that perhaps opening one box wouldn't hurt Warrick's feelings. She chose a small forgettable box with red, black and white striped wrapping paper. On one side a large red heart glistened in the light. Warrick would never notice that she had opened it.

Gently, Alice pulled the bow off to release the contents of the package. Inside, there was a small white box with another red heart printed on it. Interested, she pulled the lid off to see a small glass bottle filled with a red liquid. There was a tag attached to the golden lid.

_Drink me_.

That is what the tag said. No mention as to who had sent it, no family crest, nothing. Nothing at all.

_Drink me_...

What a peculiar gift, she thought as she looked on the tag to see who it was from. The other side of the card was blank other then a small printed image. A maniacal toothy grin stretched across the paper. Alice checked the wrapping and the box but there was no mention who it came from.

_How peculiar_, she thought as she flipped it back over and set the bottle into her purse.

_Drink me_...

The words echoed in her mind as she sat on the bed waiting for Warrick. Her blue bow on the back of her dress had long since lost most of its shape after the long day. The silky fabric draped over her lap in a way that could hint at seduction if she tried.

Warrick still hadn't come back from the party. Her mother had made her leave early to go prepare for her big night with Warrick. Alice didn't quite understand why the night was supposed to be so exciting; as soon as the reception had started Warrick had disappeared. Her mother had cornered her in the hallway and explained a few explicit acts that would be good to get his attention. Alice had a hard time trying not to vomit as her mother went into detail. Talking about such things with girls at school was one thing, talking about it with your mother was a completely different issue.

She was actually getting annoyed waiting on him. She wanted to get it over with so she could go to sleep. That thought was what sparked her to go out and search for him herself. If he was going to take his time, she would have to go remind him who his wife was. Not that he could have forgotten; they had only been married for a few hours.

Alice stood up and marched over to get her shoes and purse all the while holding a determined look on her face. She was going to find her husband and she was going to get the night over with whether he wanted to or not. She did, however, pause by the door to shove the complementary bottle of champagne into her bag and to grab her white tailcoat.

The hallway was deserted but she could still easily hear the celebration going on downstairs. Alice did not like the fact that there was a party downstairs being thrown for her, yet she was expected to sit upstairs and wait for Warrick.

She easily snuck down the stairs and exited through the front door. Warrick's family had a lovely home, it was much bigger then her own. Multiple people were actually standing in the entry way as she left; they either chose to ignore her or they didn't even notice that she was the bride.

When Alice stepped outside the first thing she noticed was the big bright moon. The air was crisp as it had only been spring for a few weeks. The flowers were just beginning to peak up from beneath the earth. Alice stepped down the cobblestone path and almost instantly regretted wearing her bridal heals.

But, other then her poor choice in shoes, the evening was lovely. Alice strolled around the house looking in windows for signs of Warrick. Just when she was about to go back inside she heard his voice coming from behind the barn. Alice happily rushed over to great him.

"There you are! I've been looking for you for..." Alice's voice trailed off as she noticed that Warrick was talking to someone standing in the shadows. As soon as they noticed her the man in the shadows ran down the path away from her. Warrick shouted after him. Furious he turned towards her and started to say something but instead took off running after the man in the red coat.

Alice didn't have time to think before went chasing after Warrick. As far as she was concerned, Warrick had already ruined the evening; everything from stumbling over his vows to stepping on her feet in their first dance. He had ruined her evening and she was not about to have him run out and make her look like a bigger fool then she already did.

Soon Warrick darted off of the main path and into the woods but that wasn't about to stop Alice. Through the woods she ran as fast as her heals would allow her to. Her dress threatened to snag on every loose twig but some how she managed not to get terribly tangled up. Warrick darted through the trees in an erratic pattern that was very difficult to follow. Alice swung her arms around her wildly trying to stay upright. Running in the woods in heals was much harder then she expected it to be. She wasn't actually running for that matter, she was more overly dashing on her toes.

"Warrick!" She shouted. "Where the hell do you think you are going!?" Warrick ran into a clearing and disappeared. When Alice finally arrived in the clearing she couldn't find him. There was no evidence that he had left either, no branched were snapped and the tall grass was only disturbed up to the center of the clearing.

Alice hiked her dress up and threw her coat on. It was difficult enough as it was to be running through the woods in a dress but carrying an armload of junk didn't help the situation. Alice began to stomp through the grass looking for Warrick to be hiding in it.

"Warrick! I know your-"

Suddenly she was falling.

She wasn't falling forward, she was falling down. Frantically she looked up to see the opening to the hole she fell into quickly shrinking. At first she screamed, terrified of what was coming. After some time, she stopped screaming and noticed that she wasn't falling that fast. She paused in her thoughts and looked down. Objects began flying at her, well, more likely the objects were still and she was being thrown at them.

That's when she saw the grown getting closer with every second.

Yes, today had not quite gone as expected.


	2. The Jabber and the Hatter

The Jabber and the Hatter

The ground hit much harder then she had expected it to. Her purse fell and smacked into her back right after and that didn't help matters. The pile of rubble she landed on consisted mostly of sticks and leaves which was probably better then rocks but the thought didn't help much.

When she opened her eyes she could see Warrick at the end of hallway leading to the room. He stood there staring at her for sometime. When she pushed herself up and brushed her hair out of her eyes Warrick started running again.

"You stupid boy!" She shouted jumping to her feet. After a few steps she tripped, her heal catching on one of the loose sticks. Yanking her shoes off she charged down the hallway to catch her pathetic husband. Down the hall she passed dozens of doors that were all shapes and sizes. The hallway made a turn and at last she saw Warrick enter one of the rooms.

Alice slowed down a little ways before she reached the door. She assumed that the doorway did not lead outside, as it would be much too easy if that were the case. She also hoped that it wouldn't lead to another hallway. However, when she opened the door and stepped inside, she was in it long enough to close the door when the lights turned off.

Very quickly Alice grew very nervous. She stumbled around the room for quite some time before she became aware of something breathing.

"Um... Warrick? Is that you?"

That was when a large amount of hot slimy liquid dripped on her head and down her dress.

_Nope, definitely not Warrick_.

Slowly she began to back up, anxiety rising in her stomach. Feeling for the door she could hear what ever it was walking towards her. Its breath was loud and raspy and every time it exhaled she was showered in a new layer of slime. Just as she reached the wall, the creature seemed to lose track of her.

That of course was when the lights flickered back on.

"Holy-" Alice couldn't even get the words out as the creature came into view. A large dragon like creature standing five times as tall as Alice stood before her. Its wings were similar to a bat's and its claws were like the talons of an eagle. As menacing as it was, its head only helped to soften its appearance. Large rabbit teeth and the barbells of a catfish made its odd appear to be almost childlike. At the base of his neck hung a large collar and what seemed be an enormous dog tag.

_Jabberwocky,_ it read. Between its bizarre name and odd face, the jabberwocky was quite laughable all in all.

Quite laughable until it roared, then it wasn't funny at all.

Alice screamed and ran to her right just as the jabberwocky struck at her. The room she was in seemed to be a destroyed thrown room, Red and black tapestries lay ripped up on the floor.

A smashed throne lay toppled over next to a pedestal. That was when she saw Warrick dart into a slim door behind one of the semi surviving tapestries. Alice immediately ran towards him, only to have the door slammed into her face.

He even locked it.

_Bastard_.

He CLEARLY was not into the idea of marriage.

Alice threw her back against the door and faced the creature that was probably going to eat her. After a moment of thinking, she slipped behind the tapestry and began to edge her way towards the door she had entered through.

At first, the jabberwocky didn't seem to understand where Alice had disappeared to. Then, Alice ran out of tapestry. She had a good ways to go to get to the entrance and she prayed that the power would go out again.

No such luck. The jabberwocky quickly found her and started tearing at the wall. Alice threw the first bit of broken wood should could find to distract the beast. The jabberwocky turned and gleefully chased after the broken chair leg.

Alice ran as fast as she could for the door. Thankfully, it opened without any hassle. She didn't even think to close the door behind her, she just ran down the hall pulling at door knobs looking for one to be unlocked.

That was of course when the jabberwocky broke through the wall and came charging at her. Alice screamed and tried the last door on the left which luckily for her, it was unlocked. She flung the door open just in time to escape from the Jabberwocky's clutches.

Alice rolled through the door way and fell on her head. Her legs ended up flipping over and her derriere stuck up in the air in a most uncomfortable way.

"Good God! Where the hell did you come from?!" A male voice shouted in shock.

Alice flopped her legs over and attempted to see her accuser. From her current position, all she could see was a black pair of men's silver tipped dress shoes. Shifting her head up, she finally saw the man wearing a red and black top hat peering down at her.

"Falling out of mirrors, who do you think you are?" His eyes seemed incredible frustrated as he peered between her and the teacup he was holding. His black hair stuck out wildly from his hat. The young man pinched his face for a moment before setting his cup on the mantel. He then reached down and pulled Alice's bag off of her.

"Oh come on now. I didn't mean to be so rude." He took her hand, pulled her up and set her in a nearby chair. Alice wasn't sure what to make of the situation. As he took her bag and set it on an end table Alice looked up to where she had fallen from. There was a mirror above the fireplace. She didn't quite understand how she had managed to fall through a door and fall out of a mirror.

"Did you say I fell out of a mirror?"

"Yes. What _is_ this stuff?" The hand that he had used to help her up was now covered in the slimy substance from the jabberwocky. He tried to shake it off but it was becoming the consistency of a snails trail. "You're getting it all over my chair?! That's disgusting!"

The young man rushed over to a closet and began to rip things out of it. Books and napkins went flying out from behind him. Alice took her time to take in her surroundings and present company. She was standing in what appeared to be a small pink parlor. The walls were covered in a pink and purple pastel diamond pattern. The couch and chair were wildly unmatched as one of them was orange and the other was bright blue.

Her companion didn't match the room much better. His hat matched his black collared shirt and red vest. A large golden pocket watch sat comfortably in his vest's pocket. The ends of his pants were comfortable tucked into a pair of black military-esque gaiters. So, all in all he matched himself rather well. His apparel clashed horribly with his pastel environment.

"AHA! Here it is!" He pulled back to face her with a smile and wide open arms. "I found it!"

Within moments Alice found herself standing in an empty wooden wash bucket. Which, it was safe to say that it was not at all what she was expecting.

"Alright, you are going to explain to me why you fell out of my mirror and slimed my chair. Got it?"

Alice pondered a good long while before she found the right words to say. She didn't want anyone she met to know that she was married to Warrick. She didn't feel the need to mention him since he obviously had no interest in her being his wife.

"So, you're chasing after your fiancé?" He asked from his now seated position on the floor. He was leaning up

Alice sighed.

"Technically," she fought furiously for the words to say. "It was arranged. He ran off on our wedding night. He ruined my evening so I chased after him and ended up here."

The fellow arched an eyebrow at her before stretching his arms out in front of him.

"And then you were chased by the Jabberwocky and ended up in my living room." He sounded incredibly skeptical.

"I know it sounds odd, but you have to believe-"

"I never said I didn't believe you. The doors in the palace's hallway lead to the most random places." He stood up and walked over to her. "Never end up in the same place from the same door twice. Odd really." He stood directly in front of her and looked her in the eye.

"What is your name?" He whispered tilting his head. Alice felt strange with him standing so close to her. Warrick had never willing gone within an arms length of her.

"Alice. My name is Alice. Yours?"

"Ace. Ace DiAmond. They call me the hatter. I run the Queen's... _boutique_. I sell the _Tea_."

"Why do they call you the hatter?"

"Because! "He groaned in disappear and began to annunciate each word slowly as if speaking to a child. "_I. Wear. A. Hat_." The hatter then made a face as if to say 'Duh' and spun around for a moment to get his cup of tea.

"Are you the queen's chemist?"

"You could say that." He blew on his tea before taking a sip and then setting it back down. "Its gone cold thanks to you."

Alice stood there embarrassed at her own stupid statement. She looked down at Hatter's boots in shame. They both stood there in a most uncomfortable silence till a loud plopping sound hit the floor. The jabberwocky's slime was slowly rolling down her dress in large globs.

"Alice, what on earth are you wearing?" Hatter's inquisitive voice was the first one to speak.

Alice briefly looked down at her dress before glancing up at Hatter. He walked around her till she could no longer see him. Alice swallowed a lump in her throat and fought back a whimper. Alice jumped when she felt his hand on the back of her dress.

"Is that your wedding dress?" He questioned quietly after jerking his hand back. Alice tensed up before she responded.

"Yes, it's ruined now, I would say." She casually reached down and touched the seam at her side. Hatter bent down and picked up the hem.

"I think I can get this out. Ought to hurry though, Jabberwocky spit is toxic as hell." Alice was immediately more uncomfortable then she had been before.

"Toxic?!"

"Yeah, that's what I said wasn't it?"

Alice shrieked and started ripping and tearing to get the ooze off of her.

Although Ace DiAmond was in his mid twenties and in his prime, the idea of scaring a girl's clothes off didn't appeal to him.

"Alice," he said in hopes to get her attention. "Alice!" He shouted in her face when she chose to ignore him.

"WHAT?!" she screeched but didn't end her attempts.

"Stop it! Come on, I'll find you something to wear." Hatter motioned for her to follow him. He led her upstairs to the bathroom located off one of the rooms. The room was painted a dull shade of grey with black circles and triangles printed on the walls.

"Stand in the tub Alice." Hatter then walked out of the bathroom to return a short time later with a black bundle of clothes. "I hope these will fit you. I don't have anything in my house made to fit a heart."

Alice had no idea what he meant exactly by 'a heart' but she chose not to notice.

"Now, you need to strip down, give me your clothes and sit in the tub." Hatter said this without a hint of hesitation. He stood there waiting while Alice stood there in shock.

"You want me to _what_?" She asked with an obvious tone of disbelief. Hatter groaned and set the clothes beside the sink.

"You need to get out of those clothes as soon as possible and let me wash them. You can either take them off now or we can stand around and wait for them burn off. And eat through your skin by the way. Did I mention that?"

Alice was angry but she couldn't help but blush. Hatter jeered at her before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

Alice almost immediately stripped out of her clothes. She waited a moment to make sure Hatter wasn't outside before she dumped the soggy pile outside the door. As she closed the door she could hear Hatter down stairs cursing up a storm about his disintegrating sofa. Alice filled the tub up with warm water and noticed that patches of her skin were turning bright red as she was waited for it to fill.

"Hatter?" She cried out as she sat in the tub and scrubbed her skin. A few moments later she heard him stomping up the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Hatter asked through the door.

"It's starting to-"

"Burn your skin? It's okay, just wash it off. You'll be fine tomorrow." He started to walk off and Alice began to relax till he came back to the door. "Just make sure to show me when you are finished, you know, to be sure." He let out a little laugh to hide his lack of certainty. Alice once again had her nerves tense up.

-----

"Hatter?" She called out into the dark empty bedroom. No one responded so she stepped into the room with her bare feet. "Ace?" She called again. A cool breeze fluttered around her damp skin and sent a chill down her spine. Alice strolled over to the open window to close it.

Outside, a gas lamp lit up a cobblestone street. The front yard had a little black fence it and an enormous picnic table that was just barely visible. Alice smiled before reaching out to close the open doors. When she finally got them closed she turned around and was very startled.

Hatter emerged out of the shadows holding her shoes and her bag. He walked across the room, only pausing to place her bag on the bed.

"Lemme' see your arm, _Heart_." Alice was slightly insulted by his continuing to call her Heart, but she went ahead and let him have her arm anyway. The Ace unbuttoned and gently pushed her sleeve up to reveal her damaged skin. Alice hissed in pain and Hatter stopped to look up at her. "Alice, are you alright?"

Alice struggled to hold back tears as Hatter examined her damaged skin.

"It looks like you will be alright. This is the worst of it isn't it? Didn't really get on you where your dress was did it?" Hatter asked almost managing to sound concerned.

Alice bit her lip and whimpered a little bit as she pulled her arm towards her. Hatter stood awkwardly for a moment. Eventually he reached up and took her hand in his.

"Alice, let me show you your room. If you want to stay here that is, I can always send you on your way." His tone was nonchalant but it didn't match the way he held her hand. Alice hiccupped before following out of the dark room. He led her to the room next door which was painted in a soft buttercup yellow.

Alice was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't his house. Somehow, pink and buttercup yellow didn't seem to quite go with Hatter's disagreeable personality.

"You sleep here tonight." He walked her over to the bed and set her down. "Oh," he opened the top drawer of the vanity and pulled out a tiny vial of green liquid. "Put this on your arms." He then smiled a _very_ fake smile before walking out and closing the door behind him.

Alice then decided that the day had gone very different then what she expected.

She just prayed that the next day would be better and that things would be explained.


	3. Piercings and Hares

Piercings and Hares

Alice awoke the next morning questioning the strange dream she had. She had been married the night before and today was a new day. Strange dreams or not, she was going to have a good day Rolling over she smiled at her new husband.

Only, her new husband wasn't there. Her new husband wasn't there because her new _husband_ had run off and abandoned her with the Jabberwocky and the Hatter.

No, Alice awoke that morning alone in the small yellow bed. Warrick was still missing and she had no idea where her clothes were. Alice couldn't help but sigh as she threw the covers off. A small tinge of pain ran across her skin as she remembered the burns on her arms. They did look better though, with the help of Hatter's green substance they seemed to have begun the healing process.

She would have to face Hatter again; she wasn't really sure how she felt about that.

Her wedding dress was hanging on the back of the door but on the dresser was another set of clothes. Alice reached over and looked them over. It consisted of a blue and black set of striped tights and a black set of shorts. Her white tail coat was next in the pile followed by a sky blue short sleeve shirt.

If this came from Hatter, his taste was obviously lacking. Perhaps it really _was_ his house after all.

Alice quickly got dressed and strolled downstairs looking for the Hatter. She didn't dare check behind any closed doors fearing where they might lead to. He wasn't anywhere to be seen in the house so she walked outside.

Alice smiled at her surroundings. In the yard there were rose bushes that had been grown to look more like trees then rose bushes. Although the house consisted of the most peculiar colors, the yard was lovely. There were flowers everywhere. Roses, tulips, daisies and hydrangea were grown all across the yard.

"It's beautiful!" She laughed and smelled the tree-roses.

"Good morning Heart." Alice turned towards the sound of Hatter's voice. Behind a huge row of flowered bushes she found him seated at the large picnic table.

"What are you doing out here?" Alice asked looking around the hallowed out space. It was like being in a house made of blossoms.

The Hatter dropped his head and started snickering quietly to himself. Eventually he looked back up at her with his sleepy eyes. "I'm drinking my morning _Tea_. Rather good shipment if I do say so myself."

Alice had a quizzical look on her face as she strolled over and took a seat next to him.

"Are you alright?" She asked with as much concern as she had in pure curiosity. Hatter set down his empty teacup and leaned onto his free hand. His whole weight shifted onto his supporting arm and looked up at her dreamily. He looked as though he would fall out of the chair at any moment.

"Fine, _Heart_." He giggled and poked Alice in the nose with his pointer finger.

Alice frowned and pulled back. She picked up a near by teapot and looked at the tea leaves floating inside. "Ace, what is this?"

"I told you, its _Tea_. You can have a cup if you like. I don't recommend the sugar though." Hatter laughed again before swigging down another cup. "I need to lay down now."

Hatter managed to stand up straight for a brief moment before he lost his balance and fell. Alice jumped up and caught him before he hit the table.

"What is wrong with-?"

"The March Hare should be here soon, would you mind giving her this?" Hatter interrupted and handed her an envelope. "Tell her it's better then what she ordered."

"Sure, whatever." Alice propped Hatter's arm over her shoulder and began to walk towards the house. The Hatter's feet stumbled around under him and Alice had a very difficult time managing to move forward. "Ace-"

"Stop calling me Ace. Or DiAmond. It's _too_ much of a title." He swung his loose arm around Alice to hold on to his other hand. Suddenly they seemed to be doing an awkward dance as the Hatter hung tightly to her.

"Hatter. Call me Hatter," he cooed into her ear. Alice let out a nervous laugh and Hatter buried his head in her neck.

Alice shifted uncomfortably as the Hatter engulfed her in his arms. She began to understand Warrick's discomfort of being alone with her. However, she did give herself credit. If she had clung to Warrick like Hatter held onto her, Warrick most would have exploded. As Alice did not explode, she was quite proud.

Not that she would have chosen to be in the situation she was in just to prove _that_.

But, the situation was far from being romantic, not that her experience with Warrick had been successful at achieving romance. Hatter was collapsing to the ground and he was quickly pulling Alice down with him.

So, in response, Alice yanked him up and practically dragged him to the house. When they reached the door, Hatter was smiling and practically asleep.

"Can you make it up the stairs?" She asked. Instead of responding, Hatter began to crawl up the stairs much like dog would. Alice chased after him and soon found herself standing in front of a grey room. Hatter struggled to get to his feet as he couldn't seem to figure out which way was up.

Eventually, he was once again hanging off of Alice's neck and they were struggling to walk.

Alice managed to back him up to the bed. She expected him to let go of her and sit down. Instead, he just fell backwards and tried to pull Alice with him. All the while the Hatter laughed while she fought to stay up.

"Your so funny Heart." He smiled softly before falling asleep.

Alice sat down on the side of the bed and watched him for a good long while.

Warrick was very different from Hatter.

"What is wrong with you?" She whispered and gentle brushed his bangs out of his face. She then noticed the clear stud on center of his bottom lip. She reached down to touch it when she noticed another clear stud in his left eyebrow and then one on his left ear. Alice let her fingertips fall and pull his lower lip down. A black diamond was tattooed on the inside of his lip.

"DiAmond! You got my order in yet?" A snotty female voice called from the hall. Alice jerked her head up in time to see a flimsy brunette walk in. When she noticed Alice, the girl stopped at the doorway stared at her. She even managed to stop chewing her bubblegum. "Am I interrupting something?" Alice squirmed herself away from the Hatter's sleeping arms and stood to face the woman.

"No! Nothing at all." Alice awkwardly curtseyed and almost managed to fall over.

The brunette blew a large pink bubble and arched an eyebrow. Her puffy pigtails bounced as the bubbled popped. She also was covered in piercings that matched Hatter's.

"Do you need something?" Alice asked feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"I need my order if that's all right with you, _Heart_. Your _Diamond_ over there promised he'd have it by today."

So, Alice was a Heart and Ace DiAmond was a Diamond.

"You are the March Hare then? Yes, of course you are" Alice looked down and began to dig through her pockets. "Here it is." Alice whipped the envelope out of her pocket and handed it to the pig tailed girl.

March opened the envelope and smelled the contents. Smiling, she pulled it away and closed the envelope. She hastily rammed it into her shallow pocket of her short shorts and smiled up at Alice.

"You need to be careful with that one," she motioned towards the young man on the bed. Alice followed her hand and looked at the sleeping boy. His head was slumped up against a fluffy blue pillow, his hat had long since been lost in the yard. His hair was going every which way and in the light she could see that his black hair had maroon streaks.

Alice felt her opinion towards the Hatter soften as she watched him dreamlessly sleep. Before she could question why, March answered her question.

"He works for the queen. Dangerous line of business that is." The girl yawned and turned to walk out the door. "See you later, _Heart_." March blew a kiss at DiAmond and walked out the door.

Alice found that she was not amused. She couldn't imagine how working for the Queen would be a dangerous line of work. Everyone loved the Queen; Alice had even seen her a few times during her life. Nothing about her seemed terrible; she couldn't quite understand how working for her could be dangerous.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head Alice sat back on the bed and looked at Hatter. In his sleeping form, Hatter was much softer looking then when he was awake.

Alice didn't know how much time had passed when he started violently coughing and rolled to face her.

"What are you doing in my room?" He asked utterly confused.

"You were in the garden acting strange and I brought you up here." Hatter pulled out his oversized pocket watch and checked the time.

"SHIT." All softness that he had exhibited while he was asleep was gone when he was in the waking world. Hatter threw a hand to his head searching for his hat. "Where's my hat?" He asked and frantically looked around the room. "Why didn't you wake me up?! I'm late!"

"I think it's-"

"Where is my hat Alice?!" He grabbed both of her shoulders and yanked her towards him.

"Outside!" She answered. Hatter shrieked and dove beneath a pillow. Alice sat there stunned and somewhat sore from where he had grabbed her.

"Did March see me without my hat?!" He garbled through the pillow. Alice inwardly laughed as she mentally redefined the term 'pillow talk.'

"No," she lied, "I gave the package to her downstairs." Alice smiled the biggest smile she could muster and pulled the pillow off of his head. Hatter turned towards her with the most pinched up pouty look that she had ever seen.

"Sure?"

"Positive."

"Good. Go get my hat." He buried his head back into the pillow and pointed out the window. Alice apparently did not jump to it quick enough and she was soon snapped at, "GO!"

Alice scoffed and headed outside to find his hat. She did eventually find it; it had rolled under a red rose bush in the yard. Alice ducked under the tree-like rosebush and pulled out the slightly dirty hat. There was a tag on the hat that read 10/6 and she noticed that there were three holes in the brim.

Alice looked at it quizzically till she heard Hatter calling from upstairs. Sighing, she headed back upstairs to appease the angry Hatter.

When she got back to the room, Hatter was busy switching his clear studs for black barbells.

"Oh. Thank you, Heart." Hatter walked over to her and took the hat. He quickly shoved three barbells into the holes of his hat's brim. "Now, if you would excuse me for a moment, Heart. I have to have a meeting with the Queen."

He then began to shuffle her out the door into the hallway. Just as he went to close the door behind him Alice stopped it with her foot.

"Why do you keep calling me Heart, Ace?" She asked looking him in the eye. Hatter flinched at her reference to his title. When he recovered, he leaned up against the doorframe and closed the space between them.

"Because," he whispered, poking her nose again. "That's what you are, _Heart_." And for the first time, Hatter flashed a genuine smile... before shoving her foot back and closing the door in her face.

-----

I'll come back and edit this later, just wanted to get it posted. J


	4. Cards and Numbers

Alice waited three horribly dull hours before Hatter emerged from his room stuttering and trembling. Alice scrammed over to him as stumbled out of the room and fell onto the floor.

"Hatter?" She asked concerned. His fingers twitched erratically and his eyes blinked uncontrollably for a few seconds. Hatter was lying on his stomach facing Alice with his eyes wide open.

"Hatter?" She whispered and touched his hatless head. Hatter began to violently contort his face and shudder all over.

"GET THE JABBERWOCKY!" He snarled. "SEEK THE CATERPILLAR! GET OUT OF WONDERLAND! GO TO-"

Mid-sentence he stopped and his body went rigid. His chest no longer moved to show that he was breathing. The only thing to move in the next few moments was his hat when rolled off of his head and down the hall.

Alice began to panic. Hatter had just experienced some sort of possessed moment and she had no idea what to do. She had fallen out of a mirror and not questioned it, she had not questioned Ace DiAmond and she had not questioned her husband's running away. Her pathetic husband had ruined everything; now she had no idea where she was and she was in a room; possibly with a dead person.

Suddenly, Hatter opened his eyes. "Hello," he said smiling. His mood changed when he saw the tears streaming down her face. "Heart," He whispered, sitting up. "Are you alright?"

"What Queen were you talking to? How were you talking to her?! What is wrong with you?!" She snapped angrily.

"Well, your queen of course." Alice looked at him skeptically. "_The Queen of Hearts_." He responded trying to sound cheerful. When she continued to cry, Hatter frowned and tapped the hoop in his lip. He finally thought and pulled out a red handkerchief and wiped her tears away.

"That's not my Queen!" She howled releasing a whole new wave of angry tears. "Where am I?!"

Hatter looked confused for a moment before he responded. "You're in Wonderland, Heart."

Alice took a moment to gage his response. He looked serious and he sounded serious, but he was obviously crazy. Alice began to panic.

"Wonderland?" She asked indignant. Hatter glared.

"Where else would you be?" He asked sounding quite frustrated. The two of them looked rather peculiar, having an intense argument while sitting together in a narrow hallway. Then it was like the lights flickered on and Hatter understood.

"You're from the other side?" His eyes lit up in excitement. Alice leaned back against the wall to pull away from hiss enthusiasm. Hatter jumped to his feet and began pacing.

"I don't know what that means-" She started but was quickly drowned out by Hatter's explanation.

"If you're not from Wonderland then you are from the other side. It's that simple. I don't understand why that is so hard to understand." Hatter had a wicked smile on his face as he walked back and forth. "You must have come through the Rabbit Hole."

"I wouldn't call it a rabbit hole, more like a giant pit-"

"Not an ordinary rabbit hole, not the rabbit hole, _THE_ Rabbit Hole. It's how you arrived in Wonderland. It's where I get my shipments from, from your world I mean." Hatter fiddled with the barbells in his hat before having another light bulb moment. "You must know the Rabbits!"

Alice thought for a moment.

"I-"

Hatter became ecstatic and started running down the stairs. Half way down he flipped around and came back up.

"That means you would know how to get back and that you know where the entrance is." His smile that stretched across his face faded when Alice didn't smile back. He stood at the top of the stares and looked down at her sitting on the floor.

"You don't know how to find it." He stated flatly. Alice smiled a weak smile and shrugged. Hatter pinched his face and clenched his fists. "Way to get me excited..." He whispered and lumbered down the stairs. Alice thought it over before following him down the stairs.

She felt guilty. She knew that it was stupid; how would she know how to get to the Rabbit Hole? She hadn't paid any attention to where Warrick had run off to; she just wanted to catch him. Until a few moments before, Alice hadn't even known that she was _in_ Wonderland. She had known something was strange but as far as she knew it could have just been a strange dream.

Alice walked outside to look for the Hatter. He hadn't been in any of the main rooms in the house. She eventually went outside thinking it would be safer then to look behind closed doors. Eventually, she found him lying beneath one of the rose-trees with his hat sitting on his face. Before she could apologize Hatter spoke up.

"You are forgiven." He flicked his wrist and motioned for her to sit down. For a moment Alice just wanted to walk away. Hatter always seemed to find a way to go from being adorable to being a total ass.

"Hatter, tell to me about Wonderland." She ordered and sat down leaning against the tree.

"What's there to tell?" He asked, his voice muffled by his ridiculous top hat. Alice huffed and smacked it off of his face.

"Everything! It's different here; people don't normally dress like you where I am from." Hatter was dressed in what Alice believed that a gentleman pirate would wear. Not that that made any sense at all. "Girls don't wear clothes like this," she motioned to the shorts she was wearing. In all actuality, Alice had never worn pants before and she didn't know any girl's that did. Her mother had always called it an abomination when girls wearing pants were mentioned.

Hatter looked at her and arched an eyebrow.

"You think that everyone here dresses like this?" Alice nodded and Hatter scoffed at her. "Only Aces dress like this. Queen's request, says it makes us easier to identify." Hatter sat up and looked around before whispering, "She's actually rather moronic. All of us here dress to her preference." Alice pointed at her clothes as if she was queued him to continue.

"What's wrong with your clothes? I'll admit that they are a bit Ace-y in appearance but there is nothing unusual about them." He pulled at one of her sleeves till she smacked him off.

"What is the difference between a Diamond and a Heart?"

"Well, one is shaped like this," he drew a diamond in the air and spoke as if she was a child. "And the other is shaped-"

"That is not what I meant!" She snapped. Hatter smiled nervously and covered the barbells in his hat.

"There are four types of people in this world; the Spades, the Clubs, the Diamonds and the Hearts. Currently the Hearts are the ruling sect of beings. Girls are the only one's born to the Hearts and Clubs, Boys are born as Spades and Diamonds." He pulled his lower lip down to reveal the diamond tattoo. "My mother was a Club and my father was a Diamond. Thus, I'm a diamond. Only way to switch is to marry into the royal family."

Alice was confused as to the reasons behind such organizations. Her internal questions must have leaked to her expression for Hatter went on to explain.

"It's been done this way for as long as history was written; the Sixes say that it was a way to set a functional order." Alice looked at him with a questioning gaze and he shrugged. "It doesn't matter really what sect you are in, it is more overly your number."

"You said that I was a Heart."

"I never said you were a Heart."

"Yes you did, I asked why you called me a-"

"Forget that. You never argued so I just assumed that you were."

"Yes, but-"

"Yes, _Heart_?"

"What do the numbers do?"

"It just shows your occupation. The lower your number the less important you are considered to the royal family. The two's are always the first to go when war is declared. "

"But what about the face cards?" She asked remembering that he had called himself an Ace.

"Well, obviously the Queen's the Queen and the King's the King. The Jack is generally the right hand man to the throne." He explained and looked at her as if daring her to ask about the Ace's.

"Well," she started, "What about the Ace-" Before she could continue he flipped around and crossed his arms.

"Secret. Can't talk about it."

"Does that mean that they are the lowest since they technically come before the two's in a-"

"NO!" He barked invading her personal space yet again. "Ace's are NOT the lowest of the low they are-" Hatter stopped mid-sentence, smirked and poked her nose. "I see what you did there." Alice sighed but gave up on it. If he had decided not to talk, she figured that that was the end of it for now.

"So, how do I get home?" She asked cross eyed from trying to see him poke her nose.

"The White Rabbit." Hatter shrugged and laid back down. Alice waited for him to continue but he gave no hint that he intended to say anything more on the subject.

"And the White Rabbit is..."

"Down the lane." He motioned to some unseen location. Alice sat there trying to mentally get him to volunteer to take her.

"I'm not going to take you if that's what you're waiting for. It's just down the road." Hatter sat up and pointed. "The Rabbit is a busy guy; don't be surprised if he isn't there."

Alice sat for a good long while hoping that he would change his mind. _Perhaps_, she thought, _he is just being nasty and will go on to take me_. She was mildly afraid to head out and about on her own. She had no idea what was out there, she had fallen through a mirror after all. The memory of the Jabberwocky didn't help either. The whole thing just made her nervous.

Instead of volunteering, Hatter rolled over pretended to fall asleep.

After sometime of balancing the pro's and dangers of leaving, but after some time she got up and walked to the road. The street was made up of blue slate colored cobblestones and the lanterns that lined it looked as though they would have cost a fortune to make. Wisteria-like flowers hung from the trees and tiny birds darted around above. Wonderland really was a lovely place once she stopped panicking.

But Hatter was right; the White Rabbits house was not to far away. Being as though it was the only other house that she could find she took a wild guess and decided that it was his.

It was a blue Victorian, all the trimmings only seemed to make it fancier then it needed to be. A stepping stone path led up to the front door that had a rabbit's head shaped window. Alice laughed at the mailbox, it too was rabbit themed. It was a carrot.

Alice walked up to the gate of the white picket fence that surrounded the house hoping for a closer look.

In the garden she caw carrots and apple trees. Green vines encircled almost everything standing. Alice noted that there were no rose-trees but instead trees that seemed to be growing carrots. Carrot-trees, such odd things seemed to be all over the place in wonderland.

Alice was so busy observing the property that she didn't even notice that someone was watching her.

"Looking for the White Rabbit, ma chere?" A voice asked from the shadows. Alice jumped. A tall, thin man in green leaned against the bright orange lamp post. He had not been there the moment before and Alice couldn't help but feel unnerved.

The man in green quickly glided over without making a sound. In an odd way, he looked like an eccentric greener version of Hatter. A tacky black cape brushed the ground behind him. Unlike Hatter, however, his dark hair was slicked back and there was no top hat in sight.

Truth be told, when Alice looked at him she couldn't help but think of the bottom of a well.

Alice recoiled as he reached out and took her wrist. "He isn't here," he soothed and kissed her hand. "Out on the Queen's business." Alice jumped back and started rubbing her skin making sure to scrub out any residue.

"My name is Bill, Bill Sang Froid. Is there anything I can assist you with?" He wheezed and smiled an eerie smile.

Alice took a step back unnerved by his bizarre expression. "I was just looking for the Rabbit..." Her words failed her as she finally looked him straight in the eyes.

_Snake eyes_. Big green snake eyes peered back at her.

"Yes... The Rabbit..." His words grew dim and her sight began to fade.

"What's happening...?" She whispered before falling to the ground unconscious.

-----

Meh. Needs to be edited.


	5. Lizards and Deals

Lizards and Deals

Images, flashes, dreams flooded Alice's mind. Images of Hatter reaching down to her, flashes of the Jabberwocky, and dreams of chasing Warrick down the Rabbit Hole. Everything was wrong, skewed in some manner or another. She could see the wedding guests faces watching her and she could feel her mother tightening her corset. Emotions and sensations seemed to blend together as she fell through the world of dreams.

Warrick smiled amiably down at her as she walked up the aisle. Only now she could see a certain hardness in his face that she hadn't noticed before. Digging his nails into her skin he pulled her up to the altar. Frightened she looked up to see that his simple face had become horrific; it was as if Warrick had been skinned alive.

"You may now kiss the bride..." The priest's voice boomed over the crowds' applause. Warrick pulled her in for a kiss with his raw bloody face as the crowd cheered him on.

Alice screamed and joined the land of the living. She didn't even realize that she was now sitting in the room that she had slept in the night before. Terror coursed through her veins as she violently shook in her bed.

It didn't take long for her screams to rouse Hatter from his usual afternoon nap. Actuality, her shrieks scared the living day lights out of him. As soon as he realized who and what it was, Hatter was on his feet racing towards the frightened girl.

She had been asleep for nearly two days. After Alice had failed to return after wandering off, Hatter went off to search for her. At first he had just assumed that she had found the Rabbit and achieved her quest. But when he noticed that she had left her wedding dress he knew something was afoot.

Hatter had let an outsider run free through Wonderland. If anyone saw her and reported this to the Queen, Hatter's head was sure to be the main course at the next feast. He knew that the Queen was aware of a female's presence in his home but she didn't know the details of the situation yet.

It wasn't a long run so didn't take him long to reach the Rabbit's house. Hatter quickly spotted Alice lying in a heap on the ground. Instantly he was at her side examining her limp form. At first it seemed that she had perhaps just fainted or gotten herself knocked out somehow. But upon further inspection, Hatter noticed that things seemed out of place. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were pulled loose from her thin frame. Black grease was smeared across her face and down her neck.

A cold chill ran down Hatter's spine. The evidence was all too familiar to just be any attacker. Quickly, he found her right hand and pulled it into the light. Yes, just as he suspected it would be, he found a faint image of a club imprinted on her palm.

_Sang Froid_, a Club and the Queen's personal Ace.

Hatter had looked, but Froid had been nowhere to be seen. Instead of seeking the revenge that he craved, he had quietly retreated carrying the unconscious girl back to his home where he paced till he fell asleep.

And now she was awake and screaming.

"Alice!" He called racing up the stairs.

He found her sitting up in bed screaming. Tears streamed down her face and before he could think of what to do his body reacted for him. Swiftly he sat down on the bed and pulled the frightened girl into his comforting embrace.

"It's alright," he whispered. Alice held tightly to the boy that held her and prayed that he would not let her go.

Hatter held her head tightly against his cheek and cooed soft nothings into her ear. He whispered about the silly moments that they had shared and he joked about the first time he saw her.

"You looked absolutely ridiculous covered in that slime. Standing there dripping all over my carpet you were. Being a perfect gentleman, I quickly escorted you too the shower-"

"Perfect gentleman? You were the perfect arse!" She choked up in between her half laughing and half sobbing sounds. Hatter smiled and rubbed her back.

"Perhaps I was a little discourteous, but you did fall through my mirror. I think I had every right to be impolite since you stood there carelessly ruining my carpet." Hatter let his eyes close as he spoke and took a moment to just breathe her in.

It did not take him long to realize his place and pull back. Alice seemed to linger as if he had never let her go. When he remained where he was, she quietly shriveled back into her pillows as if nothing had happened. Hatter stood up and walked to the door.

"Well, hurry up and get dressed. I'll make you something to eat." He smiled a sad smile before closing the door behind him.

-----

Three weeks went by and Alice still had not talked about what had happened. Wonderland was still bright and colorful, but she now knew the dangers that existed beyond. But, she was comfortable where she was, just as long as she didn't leave the yard. She had actually managed to develop a routine in Hatter's household. Playing housewife with someone other then her actual husband seemed rather unnatural. Alice didn't mind much, however, as she enjoyed his company.

In the morning she awoke and made breakfast, before lunch she would wake Hatter from his morning _tea_ stupor. Hatter would then prepare lunch, occasionally make a long distance chat to the queen and then enjoy his afternoon _tea_. Alice would clean up after him and make sure his afternoon tea trance was undisturbed. For the most part, Alice managed to get by day to day without Hatter bringing up the event.

But while the days generally went by uneventful, the evening hours were quite a different tale.

The first night after the incident Hatter had woken up to the sound of her bawling. Flying to her room to ask what had happened, Alice denied everything.

She of course argued merely for the sake of appearances, she had been glad when he dismissed her refusal. He saw on the bed next to her and held her as she cried. She awoke in the middle of the night to find him lying in bed next to her on top of the covers. She had fallen asleep crying in his arms and apparently so had he.

Ever since the day with Sang Froid, Alice had been experiencing the most terrible dreams. She actually couldn't quite remember what had happened that day but she had the most terrible feeling whenever it came to her mind.

Hatter joining her at night became a nightly ritual between them. Neither of them ever spoke of it, in the daylight it was merely forgotten. Hatter was always gone by morning. Alice was too embarrassed to mention it in fear that he might react poorly.

"Alice, what happened?" Hatter asked one morning a few weeks later while reading the paper. While things had been going rather well between them, Hatter still heard her crying at night. He was sure that something had happened but he was not quite sure how far Froid had gone. Alice was too busy cooking their eggs to run away but a sickening feeling quickly overwhelmed her. After a long pause she set down the spatula and turned around.

"Hatter, how do I get home?" She asked rather coolly. The behavior between them was black and white; their gentle rendezvous at night were always forgotten during the day and replaced with sarcastic remarks.

"Well..." Hatter pulled out a very large golden pocket watch from his pocket. Considering his usual attire, the idea of him having a pocket watch at all seemed very peculiar.

"It's to early and it's nearly tea time. We have to wait at least till the next shipment." Alice frowned but he had anticipated her annoyance. "I am not allowed entry to the Hall unless I have the shipment. Queen's orders."

Alice sighed and returned to her now burning eggs. As bored as she had been with her home life, Wonderland was not an alternative she had been seeking.

"It shouldn't take too long," he added confidently. Alice shrugged and dumped the smoky eggs on his plate. "I'll go ask the Queen then." He smiled a deceitfully sincere smile and rose up from his seat and shoved the newspaper in his coat pocket.

He definitely wasn't going to ask the Queen, the Caterpillar was whom he would contact for assistance. Hatter knew that he didn't have much time left before Sang Froid would tell the Queen about Alice. There was a slim chance that the lizard hadn't caught on to what Alice really was but Hatter doubted that he would be that lucky.

Hatter had been reading The Daily Heart before deciding to question Alice. Two things had recently happened that caught his attention. First, his Rabbit had gone off and gotten married and secondly, the door to Wonderland had closed. This wasn't too terribly unusual; the Rabbits always seemed to be breaking the portal to the other side. Any number of things could have caused the damage, but very few things could fix it. The article went on to tell of how they were hastily searching for the missing piece but so far nothing had been found.

If Alice found this out it might cause a whole new mess of hysteria that he wasn't quite prepared to deal with.

Hatter returned to his room and sat in front of his dresser. The large mirror loomed in the corner just waiting for his attention. He sighed and took off his hat. Quietly, he walked over and stood before the shiny surface.

Taking a deep breath he dramatically bowed to his reflection. He glanced back up at his reflection and reached out to touch the glass. As soon as his skin made contact, his body went rigid and he quietly fell over stiff as a board.

----

"Well?" Alice asked. She had been waiting outside of his door for what seemed like hours. She had pondered on and off about going in, but she doubted that he would have appreciated the interruption. She wasn't even sure that he was doing anything at all. At first she thought that he might have a telephone like her sister's beau did. Alice had never used one but she was sure that to use a telephone one had to talk into it.

Hatter looked down at her with thinned lips. Alice instantly dropped the subject and followed him down the stairs.

"What is for dinner?" He asked coolly before heading back to the kitchen. Alice mentioned the cherry pie that was waiting in the pie safe and he gleefully attacked it. When he had finished Alice sat across from him at the table with certain seriousness on her young face.

Hatter had no idea how to explain things to her when he had already been ordered not to. He had already told her too much, if the Queen ever found out she'd surely have his head. To tell an outsider of Wonderland was forbidden. There was to be no travel between the worlds, only the Rabbits' had that blessed freedom.

Hatter hated the Rabbits. More specifically, he hated _his_ Rabbit, he didn't mind the other three. His Rabbit was the one who was in charge of bringing in the shipments of _tea_. Since Hatter did not have permission to travel to the other side, he had to wait on the Rabbit for the Queen's _tea_. When his Rabbit was late, and since his Rabbit was almost always late, Hatter was always getting yelled at by the Queen.

Once he had even teamed up with March to get the shipment on time. The Rabbit had no chance when it came to March. She easily lured the Rabbit to hurry. However, March ended up causing the Rabbit to lose the entire shipment while he romantically chased his love through Wonderland. The Queen was quite upset when she found out, beyond furious actually.

Because of this, the entire group of Ace's ended up being bound to the Queen in ways that they had never could have imagined.

"Hatter. I asked you a question." Alice stated rather severe tone breaking Hatter from his thoughts. When he appeared to once again be in the land of the living Alice started up again. "What did she say? What did the Queen say?"

"The Queen has no intention of making the Rabbit's do anything shipment-wise as of right now… Especially not my Rabbit. Fool has gone off and gotten married." Technically he wasn't lying, he just wasn't telling the truth that she was asking for.

Alice made a move as if she was going to protest but she remained silent. She didn't want to even think of weddings, marriage, or Warrick while in Wonderland. Not that she wanted to think of him waiting for her at home. Hatter didn't need her to say anything. He was full on determined to protest whatever she did or didn't say.

"I cannot go unless I have specific permission to go. If I do not have permission, then my life in Wonderland is pretty much over. Here, I'll take you!" He stood up and pulled out an awkwardly long kitchen knife. "But before we go, I'll just cut off my head and you can give it to the Queen so as to save her precious time upon our arrival."

Alice was not amused at all by his little display and made a move to protest but Hatter pressed a finger to her lips. When he pulled back she made a move to talk but the look that he gave her made her hush. Putting on a striking smile Hatter reached up and took his hat off to reveal his wiry black hair.

"Or, you can make a deal with me and I will take you without permission. I do for you, you do for me."

"What kind of deal?" Alice questioned with hesitant eyes. Hatter sat back down and scooted as close to her as his chair would allow.

"The kind that I will explain later." Hatter sounded horribly wicked in the way he whispered into her ear. As soon as he had finished speaking she had recoiled into the back of her own seat. "If you don't make the deal with me, I won't take you." Alice chewed her lip and contemplated going off on her own but had images of Sang Froid pass through her mind. The look on her face gave him a far different idea of what she was thinking and he didn't like it. Hatter made it well known that this glance had insulted him.

"If you're concerned that I'm going to take advantage of you for your end of the bargain I can assure you that I am not. You've been living in _my_ house for weeks and I have had many opportunities if that was all I wanted."

Alice was silent. She knew that if she didn't take his offer, she was basically doomed to stay in Wonderland for an unforeseeable length of time. The Queen seemed rather temperamental the way that Hatter described her. As far as Alice was concerned, the Queen might never let the Rabbits go back just to spite Hatter. It seemed like something she would do.

"Alright," she announced suddenly. "Take me home."


	6. The Begining of a Possible Mistake

The Beginning of a Possible Mistake

Alice stood on the front porch waiting for Hatter to emerge. It hadn't taken her long to get ready as she only had a few things of her own. On the other hand, Hatter had been inside 'packing' for over an hour. When he finally came out of the house, he wasn't carrying anything besides his pocket watch and hat.

"Where are all of your things?" Alice asked not bothering to hide her annoyance.

Hatter shrugged. "I have what I need right here," he patted the top of his hat and smiled. Jumping off the porch he quickly darted Alice's glares and headed down to the gate. Alice irritably glanced back to the door and sighed. For a brief moment she imagined what it would be like to just stay in Wonderland.

It could be nice, she thought, if only for a moment.

"Are you coming?" Hatter snapped mirroring Alice's previous tone towards him. Alice reluctantly fell back into the present forcing a smile at him.

"Yes, I'm coming." As demanding as Hatter suddenly seemed, when they reached the gate he stopped with a look of seriousness on his face.

"Alice," he started rather grimly. "Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?" His tone completely caught her off guard. The more time she spent with him the more she began to believe that he could read her thoughts.

What would happen if she chose to stay? She had spent the last few weeks doing nothing but nagging him to take her, but when actually faced with the choice to leave she was unsure.

I could be happy here, was all she could think about. Being happy here is a far better prospect then being miserably married.

"Yes." She answered before her mind could stop her. Years of obedience could not be broken so easily. "Of course I want to go home, why would I want to stay?" As she finished speaking her voice grew haughty and she mentally kicked herself.

Hatter flinched and walked out the gate leaving her to follow him alone.

The road they were on was hardly a road after a while and soon it faded into little more then a warn trail in the woods. Alice fought to keep up as Hatter easily jumped over stones and ducked under branches. He was clearly trying to keep his distance. Such an idea made her uncomfortable, he knew something and it worried her.

Alice stumbled around behind trying to think of things to say. She couldn't just apologize for saying something like that. Apologizing wouldn't help much anyway; the damage was already done.

"We are going to have to cut through the Field of Tears." Hatter called from up ahead. He stood at the opening to a clearing waiting for her to come forward. "You will have to be careful, it looks clear right now but it can get dangerous very quickly." When Alice stared at him dumbly not understanding, Hatter sighed.

"What I mean to say is: you can see them coming from miles away, which makes them easy to dodge. Once it starts to flood, however, you better hold tight." Hatter smiled holding his hand out to her but Alice hesitated.

"What can you see coming from miles away?" She asked nervously looking at the sky.

"Heart," Hatter started softly his voice filled with feeling. "You can see the Tears falling from the sky." For a moment he seemed to have forgotten that she wasn't from Wonderland. But as he realized his mistake he shook his head. "They say that the Mock Turtle cries in the sky," he smirked at the idea. "Silly story they tell children to make it less terrifying."

Hatter offered his hand once more and this time Alice gladly took it. He seemed to forgive her for her rudeness and she was very glad of it.

"Why are we headed this way? Can't we just travel back through the mirror?" The idea hadn't stuck her until she realized how dangerous their journey was becoming.

"No. The portals are a one-way trip from the palace to where ever you happen to end up. You may walk into the first door on the left and land in my living room while the next time you may find yourself landing in the Queen's hedge maze."

"That doesn't seem practical."

"No. It isn't, its actually rather stupid." Hatter stopped for a moment to look up at the crystal clear sky. "I learned to stop questioning the stupidity long ago. I just accept that it happens here."

"We actually have to wander around a bit till the crying starts. Only then can we find the Dodo. He's who we need to talk to, he'll tell us where find the Caterpillar."

"Why are we searching for the Caterpillar?" Alice asked slightly annoyed that Hatter's plan was getting more and more difficult and impractical by the minute.

"Because my dear Heart, you asked to do this the hard way. You were the one who didn't want to wait till the Queen summoned me. Can't just show up and say, 'Why hey there, Queen, wanna save me some time and send Alice home?' It doesn't work like that."

Hatter believed that it was in the Caterpillar's ability to get them into the castle. He also knew that he wouldn't do so. Hatter's desire to see the Caterpillar was not a voluntary one he had instead been called. When the Caterpillar made your business his business, you either listened or you disappeared. Hatter had no death wish so obliging the Caterpillar's request seemed like the only thing to do.

The Caterpillar was notorious for causing seizure-like symptoms while speaking through people. This was the first time Hatter had been called upon and he found that he did not like it at all.

The ground in the field resembled a dry riverbed with large cracks traveling in every direction. Other then the forest behind them, dried mud stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Why do we have to wait till it starts to rain?" Alice asked. As she stared into the deep cracks she became worried about how much water was needed to create such a crevice.

"Because my dear, everyone rushes the high ground. It's the only way he will come out of hiding." Hatter's response was beginning to sound ever so slightly irritated.

"Why don't we go wait on the high ground then?" Alice asked innocently looking around the empty plane. Other then the woods behind her she didn't see anything at all. A very fake and very broad smile appeared on Hatter's face.

"Remember when I said that some things here were just stupid?" He asked through his toothy smile. Alice nodded and shrunk back a bit. "You are one of them. Please just shut up. Think you can do that for me?" He reached out and pinched her cheek before walking off.

Alice was indignant. "You didn't answer my question!"

Hatter stopped dead in his track and flexed his fingers trying not to explode.

"ALICE! The high ground does not appear till it rains. Just accept it and please just shut up!" Hatter had flipped around to face her only to fall on his back when he was finished shouting. Alice jumped at first, until she realized that he did it on purpose to scare her.

Although she was put out by his rudeness, she was content enough that she finally received an answer.

"Where is there to hide out here anyway?"

"ALICE! SHUT-"

"I heard you."

Then came the waiting.

"Hatter?" Alice half whispered and tugged on the sleeping boys lapel. A small speck had appeared in the sky above them. _The Mock Turtle's tears_, Alice thought feeling alarm flood through her.

Hatter grumbled from under his hat and rolled over. He had taken his morning tea, laughed hysterically and passed out. When he refused to acknowledge that she was speaking, Alice punched his shoulder.

"Hatter!" Alice didn't even bother to hide her concern. "There is something in the sky!"

Hatter jumped to his feet and instantly sprang to life. Scrambling for his hat he finally turned to her.

"Get ready to run, Heart." Hatter held out his hand waiting to help her up. Looking to the sky, Alice saw that the small speck had tripled in size. "Hurry up Alice!" He demanded and took her arm.

It all happened so suddenly, the sky falling. The one foreseeable speck became thousands and soon the sun grew faint. The tears fell like giant bombs from the sky; if a person was hit they were sure to be injured dreadfully.

For the first and probably last time in her life Alice understood what it felt like to be an ant in a thunderstorm. The giant raindrops were at least twice as tall as Hatter and wide enough to dwarf a horse.

When the first one fell near her, the ground shook. Alice screamed and covered her head. Hatter dragged her to and fro so as to avoid the bombs. Alice couldn't think fast enough to react. It took only a minute or so for the water to be up to her knees.

Out of nowhere, people appeared running all around scrambling to avoid being hit. Hatter stopped for a moment to look around.

"Alice! Look, watch what happens!" Alice looked up to see everyone standing in a circle not to far away. The water was now up to her waist and she was growing ever more fearful as she could not swim.

"But Hatter-" She started but was cut short by his hand on her mouth. He gave her a meaningful look and pointed to the people.

Slowly the ground began to shake. People screamed as the earth shifted up and created a miniature mountain. Alice watched in amazement as large boulders shifted and came to a halt.

"See, I told you." Hatter smiled widely as water drained down from the brim of his hat. When it landed on Alice's nose his big smile broke out into a full-blown laugh. The moment was brief, however, as the danger had not yet passed. Alice looked up to see a large droplet preparing to fall on them. Screaming, Hatter pushed her out of the way only to have her practically drown in the deeper water.

Alice had never learned how to swim; it wasn't the proper thing for a girl to do. As she struggled to stay at the surface, Hatter raced to her side. When he reached her he pulled her up from below the water and carried her to the newly made shore.

Alice was still when the reached the sandy wet shore. Hatter was afraid that she was managing to drown in her own lungs. Dropping to his knees he laid her on the ground before him and began breathing air into her. It didn't take long for her to jolt up, coughing out the water.

Other then the fact that she had practically vomited all over him, Hatter was elated that she was coughing. After a short while Alice finally calmed down and managed to breath steadily, Hatter was on his feet again.

"You are fine enough now, help me find the Dodo." Alice instantly had images of a large bird lumbering around the outcropping. The tears had subsided and now normal rain was falling. Only the occasional egg sized raindrop would fall and whack someone on the head.

"What does he look like?" Alice asked since she was currently looking for what she assumed would be a man she had never seen before.

"He's in his thirties, dark hair tied back behind him, kind of… different. You of all people ought to recognize him when you see him." Alice had no idea how she was supposed to recognize him but she didn't press Hatter further.

"Dodo!" Hatter shouted running through the frantic people. The man he was referring to stood atop a rock structure. Ironically, the formation had just magically appeared just as Hatter said it would. The Dodo was dramatically peering through a lopsided telescope as if he was a captain on a sea vessel. The object that quickly caught Alice's eye was his familiar sergeant's red coat.

With a bizarre sense of happiness to see something from the military at home she raced past Hatter up to the DoDo.

"Mr. Dodo!" She cried out in excitement when she reached him. "My name is Alice and-"

"Mr. Archer! I have told you a million times to remove such female distractions from up on deck. Throw her overboard!" He waved his arms around giving orders but continued to look through his telescope.

Alice turned to the man named Mr. Archer only to watch him sigh and roll his eyes. He was wearing the markings of a six of clubs.

When Hatter finally climbed up the outcropping, Alice speedily tried to explain how the Dodo had ignored her. Hatter didn't even bother to listen; he just pushed on by and snatched the telescope out of the Dodo's hands. The man flailed around trying to get it back till he realized whom he was fighting.

"Dodo." Hatter said in a stately and commanding voice.

"Oh good heavens!" He cried out in disbelief. "Its an Ace coming to release me from my terrible post! Blessed be-"

"I'm not here to relieve you," Hatter interrupted. The Dodo's face fell into shambles as tears poured down his face. Alice chose to ignore the sailor's language for the next few minutes until he was finished swearing.

"Blast it all to hell!" The Dodo finished at last and once again turned to Hatter with a suspicious glare. "Then what do you want? I know you want something; after all, no one around here has seen you in years. You Ace's always want something when you come."

Hatter smiled and fiddled with the brim of his hat. "You and I were always friends now weren't we? Don't act like that." When he had sufficiently made the Mr. Dodo feel guilty enough he turned on his heels. "But yes, I do need a favor of you. Just a small one, its not really for me you see." Hatter motioned towards Alice who was staring down at the frantic crowd. "The Caterpillar has summoned her."

At the mention of the Caterpillar, Dodo instantly understood.

"When things calm around here down I'll take care of it." The Dodo said seriously and patted Hatter on the shoulder. "Archer! Take her below deck and find something dry to wear. Hatter, come with me." The Dodo turned and began marching off. Hatter stood there for a moment waiting for Alice to follow Archer. She made no move to follow but instead she stood waiting for Hatter.

"Go on, you will be safe. Go Alice."

Hesitantly Alice turned and followed Mr. Archer away from her only friend in Wonderland.

When Hatter returned he found Alice sitting under a ledge of rock next to a small fire. The sky was dark, the sun setting hours before. It was raining in a more usual way giving off the eerie feeling of a peacefully deceitful spring shower. The Dodo had been kind enough to find a set of dry clothes for her to wear; she now appeared to be a British officer in her red tailcoat.

"Nice evening, isn't it?" Hatter asked sitting down next to her. Alice rolled her eyes and looked at the hatless Hatter.

"Where is your hat?" She asked perplexed. She instinctively reached over to examine his hatless head. Upon finding no injury to prevent him from wearing it she began looking around to see where it had gone.

"The Dodo has it, he's fixing it for me."

"Oh," she said thinking of what to say. Seeing Hatter without his hat was such a rare occurrence. Even when he did take it off during the daytime it was only for a few moments. Once the sun set he seemed much more inclined to taking it off but even then it was usually only for bed.

"You look so odd without your hat." She said absentmindedly.

"Thanks," was all Hatter could say. He really had no idea how to respond to such a comment. There he was, literally risking his head for her and she goes on to insults him.

"Don't be like that," she whined catching on to his annoyed tone. "I don't mean it in a bad way. I am just not used to seeing your hat off without you getting angry." Alice shrugged hoping that he would accept her answer.

Hatter listened to her jabber on while watching the last few people walk away from the fire. They were alone together once again and he felt that he should tell her. Not tell her everything per say, not much at all really, just enough to keep her from asking more questions.

Problem was, he wasn't sure exactly how to bring it up.

"I wish my mother could have met you when I was still in school." Alice blurted out of nowhere. Hatter turned to her with a most puzzled look upon his face.

"The Dodo is disabling the device in my hat that allows the Queen to know where I am." Hatter exclaimed without thinking.

Alice smiled and shook her head. "We are an odd batch, now, aren't we?"

"Why on earth would you want me to meet your mother?" His tone was a combination of shock, pleasure, and that of utter disbelief. Alice smiled playfully but remained silent.

She wished things had been different. The longer she was around Hatter the more and more of a mistake her marriage seemed to become. She had been perfectly content to be the typical housewife; cooking and cleaning seemed to be the route she was destined to follow. Wonderland was beginning to change that opinion.

She wasn't doing anything wrong with Hatter as far as she was concerned, just harmless flirting. She was trying to make the best of their adventure. When their trip together was over, Alice would be content enough to return to her dull mundane world. She might even be able to pretend to be happy with only her memories to sustain her.

"You cheeky little tart!" Hatter laughed as if he could hear her thoughts. Alice blushed a deep crimson and buried her face in her hands. Guessing he had caught her at something he continued goading her on. "You minx! What are you thinking?" Reaching out he brushed her cheek.

Alice smiled happily for a moment but as thoughts of her husband crept in, it soon faded. Hatter tilted his head as if questioning what was wrong but Alice shook her head. "I am so sorry, my dear Hatter." Alice quickly kissed his cheek and whispered, "thank you for saving me again."

He was shocked that she had kissed him. His arms ached to reach out and hold her. But his surprise held him where he sat, unable to speak.

When he didn't respond Alice smiled a sad smile before lying down. With her back to him, Hatter took it as a sign that the discussion was over. In the end though, as distressed as he was about her final sentiment, he was pleased that she hadn't questioned what was done to his hat.


End file.
